


Staying Warm in the Bitter Cold

by Emme2589



Series: Just Call And I'll Be There [13]
Category: Henry Stickmin Series (Video Games)
Genre: Coping, Cuddling & Snuggling, Cute, Fluff, Grief/Mourning, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Kissing, Light Angst, M/M, Making Out, References to Illness, Romance, Silly, Special BROvert Ops Ending | SBO (Henry Stickmin), Tooth-Rotting Fluff, cute boys being cute, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:28:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28143132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emme2589/pseuds/Emme2589
Summary: "Snow drifts build up and enfold us, as we wait out this winter storm. So we snuggle close in the darkness, and keep each other so warm."-The Tip of the Iceberg, Owl City (Ocean Eyes)Direct sequel toJust Gotta Power Through It.Charles and Henry play in the snow and then snuggle by the radiator.They're both hurting, but they find solace in each other.
Relationships: Charles Calvin/Henry Stickmin
Series: Just Call And I'll Be There [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2011435
Comments: 5
Kudos: 66





	Staying Warm in the Bitter Cold

**Author's Note:**

> I'm working on a buch of longer things, so in the meantime, here's a shorter, fluffier thing. Hope you like it.

It was a few days after Charles lost the most important person in his life.

He'd been dreading the snow, because of all the memories. Memories of the snowcaps of the rocky mountains that ran all the way through Montana, stretching as far as the eye could see on both sides, but like his father once said, _"Tragedy is a necessary part of life, but though it hurts, it's often an opportunity to make new memories."_ He was slowly coming to terms with the fact that his father was gone, and though it wouldn't stop hurting, he knew that one day, it wouldn't hurt quite so much.

That's why when he looked out the window on Sunday morning to heaps of snow outside, the clouds of grief parted slightly, and a beam of excitement cut its way through the overcast.

"Henry!" Charles shook his bed mate, "Henry, wake up! You have to see how much it snowed!"

Henry just pulled the blanket over his head, _"Charles, it's our day off."_

Charles' smile fell. The way Henry had said that was akin to forced politeness, and that struck him as odd.

"Huh? B-but Henry, look! Look how pretty it is!"

_"It's just frozen water. Let me sleep."_

Clearly, he was trying to dodge the subject, so Charles got an idea. He jumped out of bed and dressed in the warmest clothes he owned, including a big green parka, military-grade snow boots, waterproof gloves, and a pair of fuzzy red earmuffs.

He hurried outside, shivering when the cold air hit his face and his breath fogged up in the air. The snowing had slowed, and the sky above was clear and blue, but every surface was covered with a thick sheet of the dazzling white snow.

Charles gazed up at the outside of the military housing. He knew which window was his, so once he found a path, he dug the soles of his boots into the grooves on the outside of each windowsill and climbed up until he reached his bedroom window. Once he'd made it there, he carefully stood on the window below it to gaze inside. Henry had apparently accepted Charles' absence and was lying on his stomach, his cheek pressed into the pillow with both arms splayed out over it.

Charles could have just stood there and watched him rest. He was really cute like that.

But instead, he knocked on the window. Henry jumped, his gaze hitting the glass as he pushed himself up on his arms. He rubbed his eyes before looking again, reaching up to wipe the fog from the glass.

Charles smiled at his dazed confusion, breathing onto the glass and then drawing a heart into the fog with his finger.

Henry began to laugh, his eyes squeezing shut, loud enough that Charles could hear even through the window. Henry got up on his knees to unlatch the window and yank it open.

"What are you doing, you big doofus?"

Charles turned to sit on the sill, his back on the frame inside the wall, "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm having fun outside!"

"Uh huh. Because bugging me on my day off is fun?"

"Not that! I want you to come outside with me! My dad and I used to build snowmen every day it snowed!"

Henry's smile fell, "Oh. Was this a conspiracy to get me outside?"

Charles just stared incredulously. He would have confirmed the conspiracy if Henry seemed even a fraction as excited as he was.

But it was clear to him; Henry was upset.

"Just go." Henry said softer, "Please. I don't want to be outside if it's cold."

Charles lost his footing on the building, and he fell all the way down until he hit the snow below, creating a Charles-shaped hole that drilled all the way through the snow.

Henry looked on after him to make sure he hadn't gotten hurt, but once it was clear he hadn't, he slammed the window shut.

Charles just stayed in the snow, a little winded from the fall, but then he forced himself to climb out, readjusting the earmuffs that had been knocked askew.

He could feel the way his heart twisted when he heard that sentence.

_I don't want to be outside if it's cold._

Charles felt absolutely _heartless._ Of course Henry wouldn't find the snow fun. He was probably plagued by memories of leaky roofs and run-down buildings. Wet mattresses that froze into blocks of ice at night. Harsh wind and insomnia brought on by near hypothermic levels of chill.

Henry was probably _ecstatic_ to get to spend a day like this indoors, in a soft bed, with real clothes and a radiator that kept the building no colder than 70 degrees fahrenheit.

That being said...while Charles didn't want to scare Henry or push him past his limits, he didn't want Henry to fear the cold for the rest of his life.

Luckily though, he had another idea. He headed back inside and back to the apartment through the door, stripping out of his winter gear and hopping in the shower. He turned the water up as hot as he could stand and stayed under the stream until his skin was red and raw, then he quickly dried off and dressed in his warmest winter pajamas. Once he'd done that, he pulled out his secret weapon; A fire token. It was a kind of bottled spell that could heat something up, so after tuning the token, he threw it against his favorite fleece blanket, and there was a bright flash of light before he picked it up, the now-cold token falling to the ground to begin recharging. Nice and warm.

Quickly, before the heat could disperse into the air, Charles entered the bedroom and tore the blanket off the figure in the bed.

"Ugh! Charles, can't you ever-!"

Before he could finish, Charles lay down beside him and wrapped the heated blanket around him, pulling him close to his body so he was wrapped in a cocoon of warmth.

Henry stiffened at first, but then he melted against Charles' body, snuggling into his chest as his eyes fluttered shut.

_"Mmm..."_ Henry sleepily placed a grateful kiss to Charles' collarbone, _"You_ did _listen. How...?"_

"How did I get everything so warm?" Charles tucked the blanket in so Henry was wrapped up like a burrito, "Do you really want a science lesson on agitated molecules?"

Henry shot him a glare over the blanket, and Charles laughed as he hugged the Henry burrito and placed a kiss to the top of his head.

"Wait, lemme out." Henry took the corners of the blanket and brought Charles into the cocoon with him, kissing his lips as he tried desperately to hold back his delighted giggles.

Charles retaliated with many kisses all over Henry's cheeks, then his nose, which was cool from the brief time the window was open. Within minutes, Henry was sluggish from the heat and the kisses, his legs wrapping around Charles' as they sought their warmth from the hot shower.

_"Charles..."_ Henry huffed out a soft laugh against his cheek, _"Thank you."_

"You're welcome, Henry." Charles was relieved at the chill that seeped into him as Henry steadily took the warmth he'd accumulated. It wasn't that Henry was _cold_ before, but since Charles had forced his skin to heat up so much, anything that took that heat from him felt much cooler by comparison.

_"Why're you cozying me up so much anyway?"_

Charles ran a hand up and down Henry's back, "Well..."

"Wait, don't tell me..." Henry sighed, his breath hitting Charles' neck, "You want to persuade me to go outside and play in the snow."

"I want to reassure you that you're gonna stay warm." Charles rested his cheek on Henry's forehead, "I don't want you to be afraid of the cold, Hen. You're safe. Trust me. I can help you stay warm, so don't deprive yourself of the joy of playing in the snow."

Henry pushed back to look at him, and his expression was stern enough to make Charles feel that same heartlessness as before.

"If I still say no..." Henry told him, without breaking eye contact, "Will you leave me alone?"

Charles brought Henry in for another snuggle, all the fight leaving him like a deflating balloon.

"Yeah, I'll leave you alone if you want me to."

He tried to hold back his despair, he really did. He'd been so excited, but it wasn't fair to force Henry to go outside in the snow if he didn't want to. He didn't want to do anything to pressure him into it. He would feel awful if he did that.

And yet, he was brought almost to the point of tears. He hated how Henry's blatant rejection made him feel even worse about his father's death. It wasn't fair to pressure Henry, even if the tears wouldn't stop, he shouldn't be letting them-!

A quiet sob shook him to the core, and he held Henry tighter, hoping that if nothing else, Henry would provide comfort to soothe his grief.

_"I'm sorry..."_ Charles said between sobs, _"I'm sorry, you don't have to, but I..."_

He trailed off. He remembered a situation like this, and he remembered his father's wisdom.

_"Son, we can't control what we feel."_ he'd said, holding a young Charles in a big hug as he cried into his shoulder, _"Don't ever be mad at yourself for feeling. It's our actions that matter more than anything else. True compassion is thinking of ourselves as well as other people."_

Henry gave his torso a squeeze, "Charles, it's okay. I know, I'm being really callous considering you just lost your dad. Don't feel bad."

As Charles' tears soaked into the pillow, Henry placed more kisses to his collarbone. After a long moment of silence where Charles quickly calmed from the purged emotions, Henry slowly climbed out of the blanket cocoon.

"Okay, I'll go outside with you."

Charles sat up, "Really? You will?"

"Yeah yeah, just..." Henry stretched his whole body, his back bending backwards, _"Jus' lemme wake up."_

"Yes!" Charles kissed him right on the lips, "You won't regret it! I swear! This'll be fun!"

Henry giggled at his enthusiasm, and he slowly climbed out of bed as Charles went about collecting winter gear that would fit him. Henry reached for the offered coat, but Charles put it on him himself, zipping it up and pulling the neck up around his chin. He kissed Henry one more time before leaving him to get dressed while he dressed himself, then he headed back outside.

It was warming up a bit by now. Though it was still cold, Charles felt the warmth of the sun on his face. He took a deep breath. The ache in his heart was still present, but it had faded somewhat by now. Before, it was like a knife was twisted in his chest, breaking bones and draining it of all its blood, but now, it was more like a tender bruise. Sensitive, but tolerable. In the process of steady healing.

He hurried to the far side of the yard, pushing and packing a pile of snow into a small fortress that he hid behind, just as Henry left the building, looking for him. Charles smiled wide from his hiding spot. Henry was wearing a white coat with a black turtleneck underneath, with black snow pants, brown boots, and blue gloves with a matching blue scarf around his neck, which was pulled up so it nearly covered his mouth.

Charles scooped up a snowball, "Hey Henry!"

Henry turned towards him, and his eyes widened as he realized what was coming, just before the snowball hit him in the face.

"Oh, is _that_ how it's gonna be?" Henry grinned as he quickly packed a snowball of his own, _"It's on!"_

Henry dodged the next snowball that came flying towards him, scooping up a snowball and just barely missing Charles as it whizzed by his shoulder.

"You have declared war!" Henry's next snowball hit Charles' wall, which collapsed in a flurry of flying snowflakes.

"Ack!" Charles frantically reinforced his barrier with more packed snow, "You're never gonna take me alive!"

Henry dodged the next snowball, then the one after that, "Aha! Did you forget about my lightning-fast reflexes!?"

Charles squeaked as another snowball sailed over his head.

"You can't hide behind that wall forever!" Henry steadily made his way across the yard, dodging the snowballs again and again, "I'm closing in!"

"Ah!" Charles threw another snowball, but Henry was faster, and Charles took a hit to the chest.

_"Haha!"_

"This isn't over!" Charles packed another wall, much taller this time, moving at an almost inhuman speed to keep his barrier up.

"Just give up! You never had a chance!"

"I beg to differ! As you can see, I have the high ground!"

A snowball hit Charles hard enough to knock him off-balance, and he fell on his back in the snow with an audible, "Oof!"

"I've got you now!" Henry pounced on him, pinning him into the snow so they both sunk into it.

"Ack! Alright, Hen! Ya got me!"

Henry knew that Charles could easily push him off if he wanted, but he didn't. Instead, he let himself get pinned into the snow, feigning distress at his "bitter defeat". In practice though, he couldn't stop laughing, and Henry found himself staring as Charles' face flushed with the cold, his breath fogging in the air as snowflakes stuck to his eyelashes.

Henry let instinct guide him as he did the only thing that made sense; He leaned forward and kissed Charles' lips.

"Mmm..." Charles hummed as Henry broke away, "Where'd you learn to dodge like that?"

"Ah, well, I'd be dead right now if I couldn't dodge bullets."

"Oh, I see. Part of that weird timeline power?"

"If you wanna call it that."

Henry helped Charles stand, and he brushed the snow off the front of his coat.

"I like how you begged me to come outside with you so you could declare war on me."

Charles laughed, "Believe it or not, my dad always did the same thing if I didn't get outside first. He went super easy on me, though. Our first snowball fight was when I was like six."

"Did you win?"

Charles kicked through his snow wall, "Did I win."

"Did you?"

Charles' expression was deadpan, "My dad threw every one of his snowballs directly into the ground at my feet. No, I didn't win, my six-year-old strength wouldn't allow him to lose. It's a code of honor thing."

"Whatever, whatever." Henry kissed his cheek, "So, what now?"

Charles beamed, and his eyes sparkled, "You wanna build a snowman?"

Henry's excited grin was enough confirmation, and Charles packed the biggest snowball he could before beginning to roll it across the ground to collect more, and Henry did the same.

"One of them needs to be a little bit smaller. You wanna make the head or the body?"

Henry pursed his lips, "The head."

"Okay. Massive Snowball Mode; Engaged!"

Charles kept pushing his snowball all the way around the yard until it was as tall as his waist and it wouldn't keep rolling. Henry pushed his slightly smaller snowball against it, and Charles lifted it on the other side to help him place it on the body. Charles had picked up a few dark rocks from the ground, so he handed both to Henry, who placed each one in the head so they resembled a pair of eyes.

"He should have a mouth." Henry headed off to find something, stumbling across a stick that had fallen off a tree, "Here we go."

He stuck the stick into the face, orienting it so it looked like a smile.

"Now there's only one thing missing." Charles ran back inside, returning with a carrot to stick between the eyes and mouth so it resembled a nose.

"Hm. I dunno. He looks a bit chilly." Henry unraveled the scarf around his neck to wrap around the two snow mounds.

"Oh! I have another idea!" Charles found two large branches to stick into the body for arms, and Henry in turn took a pair of small mittens out of his pockets to cover the end of each arm.

By the time they were finished, it was truly a work of art. They stepped back to admire their work, standing side by side, hand-in-hand. Henry tried to hide it, but he was shivering, his teeth chattering softly as he took both of Charles' hands to huddle against him.

Charles didn't want to dismantle the snowman, but he was concerned that once the snow melted, someone wouldn't know what to do with the items that were left behind. Of course, there was a lost-and-found box on base for personal belongings, but on a whim, Charles traced a heart into the snowman's body, writing "CharlxHen" into the middle of it, then drawing an arrow on both sides of the heart, like it was piercing through it.

Henry rolled his eyes, "You are so _sappy."_

"Hey, it's cute, isn't it?"

"You can barely even see it!"

"So? It's visible enough."

Henry was about to say something else, but instead, he sneezed into his sleeve, wiping his nose as it ran.

Charles held Henry against his side, "Did you have fun today?"

Henry leaned into him, "Yes, I had fun today. I haven't had this much fun in the snow since I was a kid."

Charles was getting cold too, his eyes watering as the wind picked up and the clouds rolled over the sky, so he said, "D'you wanna go back inside?"

Henry nodded, and Charles took his hand to guide him into the building. As they stripped out of their winter gear, Charles rubbed Henry's hands between his own, kissing his ears to try and warm them up.

Charles rubbed their noses together, "Hey, thanks for humoring me."

"Of course." Henry kissed up and down his jaw, "It's so nice to be able to come back inside when it gets too cold."

Well, if there was one thing Charles always got through Henry, it was the realization of how much he took for granted. He'd always had access to warm fireplaces and thick winter coats, but Henry didn't always have that luxury.

Charles felt his heart skip. Henry looked so happy.

"Yeah. It is." Charles squeezed his hands before letting them go, "You wanna know what else my dad did every winter?"

He didn't wait for an answer. He left Henry in the sitting area before heading off to the kitchen and retrieving something he always saved for this purpose; A kettle. He filled the kettle and put it on the stove, then he took two mugs from the cupboard and scooped a spoonful of cocoa mix into each.

Henry watched from the doorway as the kettle whistled and Charles took it off the heat, pouring each cup so they were about 2/3rds of the way full, filling the rest with cold milk. He stirred them and topped them off with mini marshmallows.

By the time he finished making the cocoa, Henry had caught on to his plan, and he had created a nest of blankets beside the radiator that he'd stuffed with pillows. It wasn't quite like a cozy fireplace, but it was close enough. Henry sat in the nest before accepting the offered mug from Charles and taking a slow sip, licking his lips when the sticky marshmallow transferred to his face.

"Mm. Thank you."

"No problem." Charles kissed his forehead as he sidled up next to him, "It's good, isn't it?"

"Mhm."

Charles took a sip of his cocoa before he felt the grief resurface. It didn't taste like the way his dad made it. He knew it didn't need to, it was still good, but he must have gotten the ratios wrong or something, because it really didn't taste the same.

"Charles?"

Charles gave an involuntary whimper, _"Sorry. It just...it's not the same. I'm sorry."_

Henry set his cocoa aside and took Charles' cup from him before it could spill, "I really am sorry about everything. About what happened to your dad. I wish I had known him better."

Charles wiped his eyes, but the tears just kept falling.

"Here." Henry rearranged the pillows so he could lay back, then he pulled Charles close to him so he was laying over his chest, "I'll be here for you. It's okay."

Charles relaxed in Henry's arms, reaching up to kiss his collarbone like he had previously done for him, _"I miss him so much...I miss him...I miss him, I miss him, I miss him..."_

"I know, Charles. Just let it all out. It's okay. Shhh."

Henry pulled a blanket overtop of them both, and Charles continued to cry until he was tired and drained. He turned so his back was against Henry's chest, picking up his mug from the floor to lick the melted marshmallows from the top of the cooling liquid.

Henry kissed his neck from behind, "Don't worry, Charles. Your dad was incredible. He raised you well. He loved you and he cared for you like a father should. He left the world better than he found it, and you'll remember him and pass down his legacy for generations to come. If he could see you now, I think he'd be so proud of what he left behind."

Charles set the mug aside once he'd emptied it, and Henry picked up his mug in turn to finish it off before the drink could go cold.

"You know, he always warned me it would happen." Charles mused aloud, "Every single time I saw him smoking, he would shoo me away and beg me not to start. The smell of smoke never left him, even though he tried to cover it up with lots of showers and colognes. He told me that he'd tried to quit so many times, but he always went back to it. The older I got, the more I caught him smoking."

"Right. The general told me he died of a heart attack."

"Yeah. It was actually his second heart attack." Charles relaxed against Henry's shoulder, "The first one, he survived, but only barely. The doctors told him he likely wouldn't survive a second one. I remember when he told my mom and I that if he had another heart attack, he wanted us to just let him pass. He wanted to die on his terms. My mom said she would respect his wishes...but I refused. It's against my nature to let people die. I told him that he never gave up on me, so I wasn't giving up on him. He told me he understood. He held me in his arms, and he told me he'd made peace with the Lord."

Charles didn't notice the fresh tears falling. He was lost in his grief. In these painful memories.

_"That was the last time I ever saw him. He died within the week. He probably went to bed that night knowing that he would never wake up again. He was holding my mom in his arms when he died."_

Henry kept placing gentle kisses to his neck and the side of his head, "I'm sorry, Charles. At least he was at peace, and he passed surrounded by the people he cared the most about."

"Yeah, but he was only fifty one when he died. Sure, it's not young, but it's not old enough to die. I wish I could have saved him. I wish I'd been there."

Henry squeezed him, "I know. I know, Charles. I know that grief is hard to live with. It'll take a long time before you feel okay again, but you have me, and you have so many others who care so much about you."

Charles turned to lock their lips. The tears kept falling, but Henry was doing a great job at soothing his pain.

Henry's hands settled on Charles' hips, gently kneading into the skin and holding him against his body as Charles leaned into him so their chests pressed together, and Henry gently lapped at Charles' mouth until his lips parted and they each tasted marshmallow and chocolate in the other's mouth. 

"You can get through this, okay?" Henry murmured into his mouth, "I believe in you."

_"Mm mm."_ Charles agreed, not really having the brainpower to spare on a proper response.

As Charles' heavy heart lifted into steady acceptance, he broke their messy kiss to start nipping at Henry's neck, his teeth grazing against the sensitive flesh and making Henry bite his lip to stifle a surprised gasp.

Charles gently kissed the skin before relaxing against Henry's chest to close his eyes and rest, "Thank you, Henry. I love you so much."

Henry relaxed into the pillows behind him, "I love you too, Charles."

This would be difficult to say the least. Charles had a long road ahead of him, full of pain and longing and soured childhood memories, knowing that his father was gone forever. He'd never see him again.

But...well, one day, he would make peace with his father's decision to succumb to his illness. To allow himself the bliss of having ended his suffering, though the final kiss between his parents before they would be so cruelly separated would be burned into his mind for the rest of his life.

He would make peace with it, but for now, he was content to allow Henry to soothe his pain, reminding himself that if his father were still with him, he would be nothing but proud.

And that, at least, he could keep holding on to.

***

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi to me on tumblr! marshemillow.tumblr.com


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